✓ | 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐒, larissa weems

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

˗ˏˋ༻ʚ♡︎ɞ༺ˎˊ˗
𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐀'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕

as the other students filtered out of thornhill's classroom, i purposely hung back. if i wasn't going to find any answers about my abilities in books, my next best bet would be to ask marilyn. despite being a normie, she seemed to know a lot about outcasts and freaks like me.

once the last student had left the room, marilyn turned to me, her expression serious. "what's on your mind, winona?" she asked, her brown eyes locking onto mine.

"i'm just a little tired," i whispered hoarsely. thornhill looked up from the mass of books she was organizing, noticing the dark purple circles around my eyes. "jesus, winona, when was the last time you slept?" she asked, clearly concerned.

i shrugged. "a couple of days ago," thornhill opened her lips to speak, but before she could utter a word about how bad it was for my health, i spoke up. "doesn't matter," i shook my head, feeling the weight of exhaustion pulling me down.

"i need your help... please. i don't know what else to do," i pleaded, hoping marilyn could offer me some answers. she finally placed the books aside, giving me her full attention.

"of course, anything," thornhill said with a kind smile, her eyes showing genuine concern for my well-being.

"i should clarify, though," i began, hesitating slightly. "my illusion manipulation ability isn't just an illusionary anymore, you already know that. it's warping much greater power than it did before." my sentence trailed off as I broke eye contact with her.

as thornhill processed this information, i slightly rubbed my tired eyes, constantly widening them to wake myself up. "why don't we continue this conversation when you've had some rest, winona?" thornhill advised, a hint of concern in her voice.

but i shook my head stubbornly, feeling desperate for answers. "no, i can't keep living like this. i'm terrified that one day i'll hurt somebody i love. i need this under my control, i don't care what it takes," i replied tiredly, hoping to convey the urgency of the situation.

thornhill hesitated for a moment, clearly conflicted, but then she nodded slowly. "alright, winona, i'll help you. but we need to do this carefully and cautiously if you insist we do this," she said, her voice firm and determined. i felt a wave of relief wash over me, grateful for her willingness to assist me.

marilyn gestured for me to follow her to a desk and i complied, curious about what she had in mind. she picked up a small, dead plant in a worn, broken pot and placed it on the desk. i furrowed my brow in confusion, but decided to trust her judgement. we sat on stools facing each other, and the silence between us was thick with awkward tension.

i furrowed my brows in confusion, studying the small dead plant in the worn down broken pot that thornhill had brought. "what's with the plant?" i asked, still puzzled. thornhill grinned, clearly enjoying the opportunity to share her knowledge. "just a little experiment i'm working on," she replied, before turning her attention back to me.

"i haven't been sleeping because i've been staying up all night reading through all the books in the nightshade library, but none of them provided any explanation about my abilities. none of them even came close," i explained, my frustration creeping into my voice.

thornhill sighed softly and slid the plant to the side of the table. "that's because your ability is of a very ancient kind and might not have been documented in any of the books in the library," she clarified, leaving me more confused than ever. "what do you mean?" i asked, trying to wrap my head around the idea.